Since the early 2000s, the University has participated in national-level pilot initiatives in on the evaluation of Degree Programmes: the CampusOne project promoted by the Conference of the Rectors of Italian Universities and the information model of the National Committee for the Evaluation of the University System.
Building on this experience, the University has promoted the progressive adoption of a Teaching Quality Assurance system that is consistent with the European standards and guidelines set by the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education).
This objective, included in the University Strategic Plan since 2007, has been pursued encouraging teaching structures to engage in self-assessment, inserting the topic of Degree Programme quality into other activities already in progress (e.g. Diploma Supplement), and promoting the development of IT data collection systems for monitoring purposes and recording the opinions of students and graduates about the teaching received.
Following the introduction of Law 240/2010 and the first ANVUR Guidelines, the University of Bologna has supplemented the model used with the requirements of the national AVA system (Self-assessment, Periodic evaluation, Accreditation).
On the research front, Alma Mater Studiorum established the Research Observatory in 1997 with a view to “determining and evaluating the scope and importance of the research carried out at the University”. In 2013, the name of the Observatory was changed to University Research Evaluation Committee, tasked with preparing and updating criteria for evaluating the quality of the research carried out at the University.
The assessments made by the Committee are used by the competent Bodies and Departments to establish policies for the assignment of resources to scientific research and identify strategies for the development of research at the University.
Following the launch of the Annual Form for Departmental Research by ANVUR at national level, the University has promoted a structured approach to self-assessment of research results carried achieved by each Department.
More recently, the University has strived to improve the Quality Assurance System by recognising the new requirements and incorporating them in the model, as described in the Quality Policies Document [.pdf 664 KB] (being updated).